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Brand, Sixers hold off Warriors

Nov 24, 2008 - 2:00 AM PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- Just when it looked like the game was slipping away, the Philadelphia 76ers found another gear.

Elton Brand scored 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as the 76ers squandered a big halftime lead only to recover in the fourth quarter and hold off the Golden State Warriors, 89-81, on Sunday.

Andre Iguodala had 15 points and Samuel Dalembert chipped in eight points and 16 rebounds for Philadelphia, which has won four of five.

"It is about getting the job done and winning the ball game," Brand. "At the end of the day, though, we just have to get better. We get he leads, we have to hold those leads. We were up and it should have been a lopsided victory for us so that is the next step that have to take. It is a learning process."

The Sixers went up, 57-39, at the half as Brand poured in 17 before the break. Iguodala hit a pair of 3-pointers and Thaddeus Young added two more during a 13-6 run heading into the half.

But the Warriors started to show some signs of life in the third, cutting it to 72-62 heading into the fourth.

"We'll take the win but you can learn a lot from it," Iguodala said. "Third quarter, we were kind of stagnant on the offense and they were making shots and they slowed us down."

An 18-4, capped by two straight 3-pointers from Anthony Morrow, run bridged the gap between the third and fourth quarters to pull Golden State even at 76-76 with 6:31 remaining in the game.

But Young made a layup and Andre Miller converted a turnover into two points to put Philadelphia back on top.

"It was just an ugly game on both sides with the turnovers and losing focus a little bit," Miller said. "We shouldn't give up a lead like that but it happens to all the teams in the league. It was a good effort to be able to finish it off."

Stephen Jackson pulled the Warriors back with 80-78 with a driving layup, but Dalembert converted another turnover into points with an emphatic dunk at the four-minute mark.

"That was a tale of two halves out there," Philadelphia coach Maurice Cheeks said. "I thought that in the first half, our defense was good, and our offense was good and we did a lot of good things. In the second half, he did not guard the screen and roll they way we did before. Many times we got to the rim where we had a chance to get two shot fouls and they blocked the shots, which change the momentum of the game. Again, we were able to hang on."

Miller's deep 3-pointer with 2:15 left made it 87-81, and the Sixers cruised home from there.

"Nothing that he does ever surprises me," Brand said of Miller. "He is a heck of a player. He is a winner. He does the little things from playing defense to scrapping to getting assists to stepping up and hitting a timely big three when we need it. He is a player."

The Warriors committed four turnovers and shot 2-of-10 from the floor over the final six minutes.

Kelenna Azubuike led the way with 16 points for Golden State, which was kicking off a five-game road trip here.

"We didn't play a very strong first half and I was very disappointed," Warriors coach Don Nelson said. "We came back and played a very solid second half defensively but we didn't get enough going offensively. The way our guys played with some energy. ... We of course had a couple of rookie turnovers but it was a good game for our young guys to play in. I thought that they competed and they all did some good things."